Review Summary: And now these three remain: sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. But the greatest of these is sex.
For a band considered so mainstream Jane’s Addiction remain a distinctly odd and covertly subversive proposition; they’re as reverential of classic rock as say Pearl Jam but at the same time they’re flagrantly sexual and perverse; they love extended classic guitar solos but have an experimental tropical vibe faintly reminiscent of Animal Collective; they can rock out with the best of ‘em yet Perry Farrell is the polar opposite of your typical macho front man. The band have kept the feel of a cult act despite huge record sales and this is probably down to the fact Farrell has always come across as a true eccentric and remains very much the acquired taste; his hyperactive bratty voice and oversexed shaman persona leave very few sitting on the fence. Put simply, some lack the imagination to see anything beyond their next pint at the Dog & Duck but if you're blessed in this department the music of Jane’s Addiction should conjure up images of rambling down street carnivals with your eyes rolling back thanks to the copious quantity of hallucinogens you’ve just ingested, or perhaps supping some intoxicating nectar while reclining on a bed of palm leaves in the centre of an orgy surrounded by belly dancers with perky breasts. If these sound like places you’d want to visit then Jane’s should really be your boys.
The band have preserved a certain mystique thanks in no small part to the fact they simply didn’t get around to recording all that much material in their heyday; they were in a near constant state of disharmony and as a result they only released the two essential albums, 1988’s ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ and this, it’s 1990 follow up. Of the two ‘Ritual de lo Habitual’ is by far the more ambitious, making use of greater textures and boasting a fuller sounding production; when this album aims for epic it holds nothing back with ‘Three Days’ and ‘Then She Did’ both clocking in at over eight minutes in length and sounding far more progressive than anything found on this release’s predecessor. Farrell similarly stretches himself as a lyricist on this material; his focus is still centred on the hedonistic but at this stage he’d seen more than his share of the dark side of this type of lifestyle and its manifold addictions. The story of the album’s cover art is explained by ‘Three Days’, the intro calling out to the listener directly, cooing ‘at this moment you should be with us, feeling like we do, like you love to but never will again’; whether that sounds alluring or threatening is for the individual to decide but the ramifications of these types of behaviours are laid bare on the very next song. ‘Then She Did’ sees Farrell link the recent death of a friend and lover with the suicide of his mother and it stands out as perhaps his greatest achievement as the song never sinks into maudlin navel-gazing territory despite the heavyweight nature of the subject matter.
The first five songs stand out in marked contrast to these two expansive and experimental offerings adhering to a more upbeat rock format; ‘Been Caught Stealing’ is an alt rock heavy MTV rotation staple and wins friends thanks to its tongue in cheek throwaway attitude and bouncing bass lines; ‘Stop!’ boasts a barrow load of slick Navarro licks as well as a trippy breakdown for Perry to go off script over; ‘Ain’t No Right’ is the fastest tune here and can lay claim to containing one of the greatest ever ‘motherf*cker’s committed to tape; and ‘Obvious’ dusts down those old Led Zeppelin records and sees Farrell approximating a lot of Plant’s mystical vocal tics. Together this run of songs constitutes one of the all time great opening rock salvoes, one that sports enough madcap energy and invention to retain its freshness even after countless repeat listens.
The 1-2 hit of the violin based head-trip ‘Of Course’ and mellow camp-fire ballad ‘Classic Girl’ close the album and hint to what musical style Farrell would saddle his massive ego to next; Jane’s Addiction split soon after the release of this album and he went on to form the generally more easygoing Porno for Pyros. The other major player Navarro joined the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to provide some added psychedelic tones to their 1995 album ‘One Hot Minute’ before again being shown the door and disappearing into the relative wilderness for a while. Jane’s Addiction would eventually reform with a near original line-up including both Farrell and Navarro in 2002 and go on to record new music; the kindest thing to say is that despite hardly pulling up any trees at least this output is far from embarrassing and it would be harsh indeed to accuse the band of tarnishing their history. Their legacy might seem a meagre one but in the space of two classic recordings Jane’s Addiction penned as many great songs as most of their 80’s and 90’s peers managed over five or six albums and whether you marginally favour the raw ‘Nothing’s Shocking’ or this more polished affair it’s probably safe to say there’s room enough in your collection for both; in a mainstream rock landscape dominated by the nerdy bedsit conspiracy theories of Matt Bellamy and bland platitudes of Dave Grohl surely you need to make space for a band that sing about exotic hedonistic locales and the even more exotic females who inhabit them.
